Salem days
by Bastilleon
Summary: two mercenaries, a group of kids and the military face a world with grimm consequences. Slight crossover elements with bleach. rated M for gore as well as for future planning.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Ruby Rose**

 **A/N: I do not own anything, all rights to their respected owners.**

 _Legends… Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, by-products, of a forgotten past. Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness — creatures of destruction — the creatures of Grimm - set their sights on man and all his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void._

 _However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named "Dust". Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life._

 _But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone... darkness will return._

 _So, you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called "free world", but take heed... there will be no victory in strength._

A figure, laying at the edge of the rooftops, snaps a book shut. Judging from what little is visible from their cloak, this man's mouth and ebony fringe are the only things not cast in the shadow of his hood. He says to the night sky,

"But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that have been long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul." A second figure appears, this figure is smaller in stature, and is female from her attire and hair again is the only things visible from her cloak.

"Ken-chan, we have movement in the alley below." Her young voice called out, his head turns to her and says "Is it him?"

"White coat, bowler hat, badly styled orange hair along with that stupid smug look; yeah it's him, its Torchwick." She replies sassily and sits down; a slight frown appears on his face at this.

"I'm meant to be the sassy one and you're the small adorable one, not the other way round but if so I think I can pull it off. Wouldn't you agree, Yachiru?" he said smirking.

"Haha, sure, whatever you say Ken-chan, how much are the police paying us for this again?" she giggles softly, as he places a hand atop her cloaked head.

"I do believe it is 100,000 lien plus 10,000 lien extra for accomplices, reward will be doubled if he manages to get away or it halves never quite remember." He answers a confused frown spreads his lips.

"Do you think old ironwood will stop hounding us for his military academy thing if we do this?" she asks a somewhat annoyed tone in her voice.

Turning his head to her, a soft smile on his lips. "Honestly Yachiru, I haven't the foggiest, I mean hopeful it'll get him off our backs but it might not, besides do I look like the type to follow some stick-up-the-arse general who doesn't take no for an answer."

"No you don't, Kenny." She says with a wide smile.

The sound of shattering glass drew the attention from their current conversation; looking down into the street below they see a man in a black, with a red tie and a stereo-typical villain moustache alongside a girl of about 15 years of age in a red combat skirt, opaque black tights and knee-high combat boots. The most recognizable things about her was the fact that she had silver eyes as well as the red strip in her otherwise black hair. She looked like little red riding hood got pissed off especially with that scythe of hers.

"Things just got interesting, right Ken-Chan?" the small girl asked.

"...yeah, we should get down there, don't want to miss out on the fun now do we?" he said tilting his head to her, the smirk on his lips visible in the light before he kept on to the street below.

"Of course… Kenny." She answered with a small smile before she too jumped to the street below.

 _/~_ _ **A few minutes before~**_ _/_

Roman Torchwick and ten henchmen head down an alley from the shadows. They stop behind Roman, who reignites his cigar without touching it and grins before walking down the road, frightening nearby citizens as they make their way towards the shop From Dust till Dawn.

As he enters, the shopkeeper looked up expectantly. "Do you know how hard it is to find a dust store open this late?" he asked rhetorically as his hired muscle either unsheathed or unholestered their respective weapons.

"Please just take my lien and leave." The elderly man said raising his hands in surrender after opening the cash register.

"Don't worry… we aren't after you money..." he said, motioning to his men, "Take the Dust!" he ordered.

Three of the suited men moved around the shop, place collectors to the tubes of finely powdered Dust as the last one placed a large case on the glass counter.

"Dust, burnt, uncut...hand them over." Roman ordered and the older gentleman did just that.

/~ **RUBY POV** ~/

One of the grunts walked to the back of the store, he came across a young girl in a red hood and skirt, who was currently reading a _**WEAPONS**_ magazine.

"Hands in the air!" he ordered her pointing his sword at her but he was promptly ignored.

"I said put your hands in the air, you got a death wish or something?" He repeated getting angrier, reaching out and grabbing her shoulder. Finally gaining her attention, he sees that she had headphones on which is why he failed earlier.

"Hm?"

He motions to his ear and she takes her headphones off, so he orders again,

"Hands in the air!"

"Are you robbing me?" she asked with an inquisitive look.

"Yeah!" He replies immediately.

"Oh..."

Roman sees one of his henchmen hit the wall near him, motioning for a mother one to check it out, only for him to crash through the window a red blur following suit.

The girl spins around unveiling her scythe and paused her music; Roman looks at the men gathered at the window and says,

"Well...get her!"

The henchmen rush out and surrounded the petite girl, wielding their swords in an attempt to intimidate her, as civilians panic and run.

She spun her scythe hitting a grunt with the butt of it. A grunt behind her caught her of guard with an upward slash to her back. Each time she swung one of the grunts would catch her of guard and be able to land a hit on her.

She stumbled and they capitalized on it causing her to fall. Her scythe had flown out of her hand as she fell and clattered noisily on the road, one of her attackers decided to finish it, walked towards her downed form raising his sword above his head. She didn't want to witness the end so closed her eyes and await the inevitable, quietly wondering about how Yang would cope with this, but got confused when the pain never came. Eyes fluttering open, she couldn't comprehend the sight before her, where the numbers game was too much for her stood a singular man with a goofy smile on his face.

This man was dressed in a standard black shihakusho with the sleeves ending half way between his shoulders and his elbows, along with black form fitting hakama, a crimson obi around his waist, black boots and a white sleeveless haori along with a sword tied horizontally across his lower back. The guy himself was around 6'5" in height and ebony hair in a scruffy Mane. He has an eye patch over his right eye leaving the left visible, a nice sapphire blue.

Once she had come back to reality she saw that torchwick guy pointing his cane at her. "Well Red, goliath... it's been an eventful evening but we're going to have to part." With that the butt of his cane flipped to become a sight and fired some sort of explosive **Dust bullet** straight at her. **"** _ **Awaken**_ _ **Benihime:**_ _ **blood mist shield!"**_ intoned a deep, yet smooth baritone. The guy from before had somehow got in front of her sword out and raised before him blade pointing downwards, a red shield of hexagonal pieces had formed before him.

"Okay, little red follow him we will be there shortly." He ordered turning to her.

"We?" she asked.

As she asked this a pink haired kid probably no older than 5 or 6 appeared hanging from his left shoulder and from what Ruby could see was wearing the same outfit as him minus the haori and longer sleeves, a sword hung so the handle was over her left shoulder.

"HI, hi Little Red I'm Yachiru." The newly announced Yachiru exclaimed excitedly.

"Hi my names Ruby not Little Red." She responded politely.

"Ah yes… my apologies. We both have a habit of nicknaming people before getting their actual name. The names Zaraki or Kenpachi Zaraki if you'd rather." Zaraki said.

"Anyway you should probably hurry as Torchwick has climbed the ladder to the roof over there." He went on pointing to Roman as he did so.

"Er…oh yeah I try to stop him just hurry!" Ruby called over her shoulder as she ran off after picking up her scythe and firing a shot to boost herself on to the roof.

"Stop!" ruby shouted at Torchwick as he was reaching the edge of the roof.

*sigh*"You just don't know when to quit huh kiddo?" he said as a bullhead ship rose behind him and opened its cargo doors.

Stepping on Torchwick rummaged through his coat and pulled out a red **Dust crystal** and threw it towards her then raised his cane to fire.

"End of the line Red!" he shouts at her and then fires at the dust crystal generating a huge explosion.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho…HUH?" he started laughing only to stop as he notices something on the roof.

A woman in a purple cape is in front of Ruby, casting a circle of protection over them with her wand. As ruby looks on, the new arrival waves her weapon and summons several streaks of purple at the craft. Torchwick is thrown around the back and manages to stumble into the cockpit, in which is a woman in red, who is struggling with the controls.

"We got a Huntress! It's that Goodwitch!" he tells her.

The pilot gets up handing the controls to Torchwick and heads to the open door.

Goodwitch glows purple for a minute and aims another blast above the craft, resulting in a dark storm cloud over the jet.

From the cockpit Torchwick is looking up at the cloud. "What the…?" He questioned.

With a flick of her wand, large jagged hail starts falling that pummels the jet and even breaks through the window, narrowly missing Roman's head.

The woman reaches the back and her arms and chest light up like fire, aiming a burst of energy at Glynda. The Huntress blocks it, but the flame splatters behind her and glows hot with the enemy's raised hand. Glynda back-flips out of the explosion, which destroys part of the roof, and magically gathers the shards to create a large arrow, which she throws at the craft. The fiery woman shatters the arrow with several blasts, but it reforms just in time to hit the side of the jet due to Roman's quick aerial lean. The wreckage separates and reshapes into more arrows that encircle the jet, but the woman summons several glowing rings around herself that expand and destroy the shards.

Ruby, finally acting, reverts her scythe into its rifle form to fire at the woman, who blocks each shot and creates several blazing circles around her two opponents. Glynda telekinetically pushes Ruby and rolls herself out of the explosion's radius; looking up to see the woman preparing another attack; placing one hand back forming a flame in it then throwing it forward and as it flew towards them it grew larger with the amount of air rushing pass it. _**"Scream Benihime!"**_ An arc of crimson energy collides with the orb of fire causing an explosion. As the dust settled they saw the bullhead flying away, both woman turn around to see Zaraki, with a goofy grin on his face, stood there with Yachiru laughing and waving with one hand from his shoulder.

Ruby smiled and waves back to Yachiru then turns to Glynda with an awe stricken face. "You're a Huntress!" her face changed to a pleading, awe-stricken face, "Can I have your autograph?!"

/~ **Half an hour later** ~/

Ruby face was now one of shame; Zaraki and Yachiru were both confused, as Glynda holding a tablet computer, paces around the table that the others are seated at, right underneath a bright light in the otherwise dark room.

"I hope that you that your actions tonight won't be taken lightly. You put yourselves and others in great danger."

"Eh… our actions will more than likely be taken lightly as it was part of a job we were payed to do." Zaraki said, motioning to himself and Yachiru.

"Those Goons started it!" ruby exclaimed in defence.

"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home... With a pat on the back... (she notices Ruby's smile) ...And a slap on the wrist." she demonstrates with her wand, which Ruby barely avoids as she gives out an "Eeek!"

" But... there is someone here who would like to meet you."

She moves out of the way so a surprised Ruby can see a man in green come through the doorway, holding a mug and a plate of cookies. Yachiru appears on his arm suddenly and steals four cookies and appears back on Zaraki's lap.

"Ruby Rose…" Ozpin leans in to look at her face"…you…have silver eyes."

"Uh, um…"

"Well that's one way to introduce yourself." Zaraki commented.

"So where did you learn to do _this_?" Ozpin said never taking his eyes off her or even acknowledging Zaraki's comment but motioning towards a screen showing Ruby fighting.

"S-signal Academy." She replied.

"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" he questioned.

"Well, one teacher in particular."

"I see…"

He puts the cookies on the table in front of Ruby. Zaraki leans over and takes a couple. Ruby tentatively picks one up, eats it in a single bite, and then, not seeing any rebuttal, shovels the rest into her mouth.

"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty, old crow..." ozpin says.

Ruby mumbles through her full mouth "Oh! That's my uncle!" she then swallows and wipes her mouth, embarrassed "Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now, I'm all like— Hooowaaah! Witchaaaa!" She proceeds to make some karate-style poses and noises.

"Wahahaha!" Boisterous laughter fills the small room and all attention lands on Zaraki who in turn stares back.

"So, I've noticed." Ozpin said placing his cup on the table as he leans in, completely ignoring Zaraki's outburst, then sits down opposite Ruby "And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

"Well... I want to be a Huntress." Ruby says honestly.

"You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon!" she says talking faster and faster with her enthusiasm growing "You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people. My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, Hey, I might as well make a career out of it! (giggles) I mean the police are alright, but Huntsmen and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and really, gosh, you know!" she flips out at the last part, staring at the two with a wide, crazy smile.

Glynda and Ozpin study her.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon."

"Hello." Ozpin says smiling

"Nice to meet you." Ruby says back

"You want to come to my school?"

"More than anything."

Ozpin exchanging glances with Glynda, who shows her disapproval with a "Hmph" before he turns back to Ruby. "Well, okay."

Ruby smiles, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, Zaraki pats her on the shoulder and Yachiru offers her a cookie. "Good job, Little Red."

"So… Zaraki…Yachiru."

Both of those called turned their attention towards the Headmaster.

"So how did you learn to fight like this?" He asks motioning towards the same screen this time showing Zaraki's hand-to-hand combat style.

"What…? Oh that… well originally it was my old man but afterwards I taught myself." Zaraki answered honestly.

"You taught yourself Hakuda?" Ozpin says raising an eyebrow.

"Eh? It's simple when you know the basics." He replies.

"So the same offer goes to the two of you, do you accept?" Ozpin asks.

"Well…" Glancing down at Yachiru, who looks excited by the idea. "It would get old ironwood of our case for one thing. A second is that Yachiru seems excited by the idea… so yeah we accept!" he replies determinedly.

/~ **Next day** ~/

Yang Xiao Long tackled her sister in a hug aboard the large airship to Beacon, crushing the air out of her.

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is going to Beacon with me! This is the best day ever!" She exclaimed.

"Please stop." Ruby gasping

"But I'm so proud of you!" Yang releasing her sister

"Really Sis, it was nothing." Ruby replies modestly.

"What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bee's knees." Yang said excitedly

"I don't want to be the "bee's knees", okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees." Ruby said slightly flustered.

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?" Yang asks with a goofy grin

"Of course, I'm excited... I just..." (Sighing) "I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm special or anything." Ruby replies nervously.

"Eh... you're worry about it too much. All you've got to do is be yourself." Zealot chimed in. He and Yachiru had been sat there watching with amused smiles on their faces.

"Do you think that could work?" she asked turn to face him.

"It's highly likely that it will work. Though if not it's not a problem all you would have to do is impress them with that scythe of yours." He answered with a shrug then placed a hand on Yachiru's head and started stroking it eliciting a happy chirp from the youngster.

"Really?" Ruby inquired wow eyed, gaining a little shrug from the guy, released a sigh of relief. Yang stood watching their interaction, smiled to herself, happy that her sister had someone beside her to talk to. Sounds of awe are heard around them and turning to the window they could see why. The view was breath-taking.

"Oh, I can see Signal from here." Ruby called out. Just then a news report popped to life using the windows as screens. The report talked about Roman Torchwick and his recent crime spread. After the news, a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch appeared.

"Who's that?" Yang asked the other three.

"Hello students my name is Glynda Goodwitch and I'm one of the teachers here at Beacon."

"Oh" yang replied owlishly.

"You are among a privileged few who have received the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." Glynda informed them before disappearing.

The four hear a passenger groaning and hunched over nearby, running to the back of the ship.

"Well... I guess the view isn't for everyone." Yang comments rolling her eyes

"It was a nice moment while it lasted."

The ship approaches Beacon across a large body of water.

"I wonder who we're gonna meet! I just hope they're better than Vomit Boy. Oh, Yang, gross! You have puke on your shoe!" Ruby shrieks in digust

"Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" Yang wails running around.

"Get-Get away! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me! Get away from me!" Ruby whines.

Zaraki chuckles slightly at the proceeding, an arm wrapped around the sleeping form of Yachiru on his lap.

' **I think I am gonna enjoy my time here'**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: A shinning Beacon**

The ship lands at the school's docks, the students quickly leave it, a blonde boy empties his stomach into a nearby waste bin. All the while Yang, Ruby and Yachiru gaze at Beacon with awe, Zaraki looks indifferent to it.

He turns to the two teens, next to him, in time to see Ruby quite literally become a floating, starry eyed, 2D chibi-like thing.

' _What the hell…?'_ both Yachiru and Zaraki thought.

"OHMYGOSH! Look guys, that kid's got a collapsible staff! And she's got a fire sword!" she squealed trying to get closer causing Zaraki to grab her by the scruff of her cloak and lifting her off the ground, legs & arms flailing wildly. "Ow! Ooww! Zaraki stop please!"

"Easy there sis, they're just weapons" Yang says slightly amused.

"'Just weapons'? They're an extension of ourselves! They're a part of us! Oh, they're so cool!" Ruby squeals as she put back down.

"Well, why can't you swoon over your own weapon? Aren't you happy with it?" Yang inquired with a confused look

Ruby transforms her weapon into its scythe form "Of course I'm happy with Crescent Rose! I just really like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people, but better..." she ends slightly depressed.

Yang playfully pushing her sister's hood down over her face "Ruby, come on, why don't you go try and make some friends of your own? I mean you got two already, right?" a smirk on her face.

Ruby taking off her hood had a look of confusion "But... why would I need more friends when I've got you guys?"

"Well..." in a flash, a group of other students surround Yang and they all dash down the road. "Actually, my friends are here. Gotta go catch up. 'Kay, see ya, bye!"

Zaraki's good eye follows yang as she flees from her sister and turns back to see Ruby spinning and dizzy-eyed from Yang's sudden leaving "Wait, where are you going?! Are we supposed to go to our dorms? Where are our dorms? Do we have dorms?" Stopping for a moment, still reeling "I don't know what I'm doing..."

Ruby falls backwards into a luggage cart, sending cases flying. A girl is standing over her that. The girl is wearing a pale blue bolero jacket over a similarly coloured thigh-length dress with a piece of black lace making up the neckline of the dress. The inside of the bolero is red and the sleeves turn blue as they get closer to her wrists. The back of the bolero displays the Schnee Crest, which bears a resemblance to a snowflake.

"What are you doing?!"

Ruby getting up on her hands "Uh, sorry!"

"Sorry?! Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?"

Ruby holding a case "Uuhhh..."

"Give me that!" she snatches the luggage from Ruby and opens it to reveal its twinkling-sounding contents "This is Dust - mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!"

"Uuuhhhh..."

"What are you, brain-dead?" holding out a vial of red Dust and shutting the case "Dust! Fire, water, lightning, energy!"

"I... I know..." Ruby mumbles as she starts coughing from the Dust pouring into her face

"Are you even listening to me? Is any of this sinking in? What do you have to say for yourself?!"

Ruby, who had been receiving more and more Dust to her face, finally sneezes, which erupts into a full-blown explosion of flame, snowflakes, and electricity right onto Weiss. The bottle she had been holding flies over the courtyard and at the feet of another girl, who picks it up and notices the Schnee Dust Company logo on the side as she reads from a book and looks over at the scene.

The first girl now covered in soot, though it quickly disappears "Unbelievable! This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"

Ruby apologetic and embarrassed "I'm really, really sorry!"

"Ugh, you complete dolt! What are you even doing here? Aren't you a little young to be attending Beacon?"

"Well, I-I..." Ruby stutters

"This isn't your ordinary combat school. It's not just sparring and practice, you know! We're here to fight monsters, so... watch where you're going!"

Ruby finally fed up "Hey, I said I was sorry, princess!"

"It's heiress, actually." Ruby, Yachiru and Weiss look over, Zaraki's good eye flickers over as Blake approaches with the bottle "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

Weiss smiling smugly "Finally! Some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labour forces and questionable business partners."

Weiss getting angry again as Ruby chuckles "Wha- How dare you- The nerve of... Ugh!" gets up in Blake's face and takes the bottle from her, walking off in a huff as her helpers gather the luggage and follow

Ruby to the storming Weiss, still sorry "I promise I'll make this up to you!" {Sighs} "I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day... So, what's..." sees the other girl walking off as well, then collapses to the ground on her back "Welcome to Beacon..." she remains this way until a shadow comes over her.

"Are you doing okay, little red?" Zaraki asked his singular eye full of concern. Yachiru pops over his shoulder holding out a cookie towards her, a smile comes over her face at the action. After she had consumed the cookie Zaraki holds his hand out to help her back up. Ruby smiles again and graciously takes the offer.

"Just a rough start is all." She says finally.

"Only gonna get better from here…probably." Zaraki replies a goofy grin on his face.

Giggling Ruby says "Thanks, we should probably get going."

"Sure, this way then…At least I'm guessing it's this way."

/

Upon entering the hall both Zaraki and Ruby notice Yang waving at them.

"Hey Ruby, Zaraki I saved you guys a spot."

Yang once Ruby joins her, arms crossed "how's your first day going, little sister?"

Ruby glares at her, "You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?"

"Yikes! Meltdown already?" Yang asks in shock.

"No, she literally exploded a hole in front of the school! And there was some fire, and I think some ice...?" Zaraki comments.

Yang smiling broadly "Are you being sarcastic?"

Ruby scoffs as Zaraki glances around to see Weiss right next to her "I wish! I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me, and then I sneezed, and then I exploded, and then she yelled at me again, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!

"You!"

Ruby quickly jumping onto Zaraki's unoccupied shoulder "Oh, God, it's happening again!"

Weiss glaring at Ruby "You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!"

"Oh, my God, you really exploded…" Yang said utterly stunned.

"Didn't I just confirm this?" Zaraki mumbles to himself, Yachiru nodding along.

"It was an accident!" Ruby pleads as she gets down; to Weiss "It was an accident!" Weiss holds up a pamphlet titled "DUST for dummies and other Inadequate Individuals" to Ruby "What's this?"

Weiss starts listing off policies to a clueless and horrified Ruby, going faster and higher pitched with each word "The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injuries or damages sustained while operating a Schnee Dust Company product. Although not mandatory, the Schnee Family highly encourages their customers to read and familiarize themselves with this easy to follow guide to Dust applications and practices in the field."

"Uuhhh...?" Ruby trails off looking towards Zaraki, who shrugs in indifference.

Weiss sighs "You really wanna start making things up to me?"

Ruby perks up "Absolutely?"

Weiss handing the pamphlet to Ruby "Read this, and don't ever speak to me again."

Yang looks between the two before commenting "Look, uh, it sounds like you two just got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you start over and try to be friends, okay?"

Ruby putting the pamphlet away "Yeah! Great idea, sis!" holding out her hand as she clears her throat "Hello, Weiss! I'm Ruby! Wanna hang out? We can go shopping for school supplies!"

Weiss seemingly enthusiastic "Yeah! And we can paint our nails and try on clothes and talk about cute boys, like tall, dark, and intimidating over here!"

Ruby in either excitement or obliviousness responds "Wow, really?!"

Weiss dead silence under her glare "No."

Their attention is drawn to the stage, where Professor Ozpin is readying the microphone, with Glynda beside him.

Ozpin adjusts his glasses "I'll... keep this brief. You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. (The begin to students whisper among themselves) You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

As Ozpin leaves, Glynda steps up to talk "you will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

"He seems sort of… Off." Yang mumbles Looking at where Ozpin left.

"Yeah almost as if he wasn't there." Ruby adds her two cents.

"Captain!" Three voices shouted joyously causing Zaraki and the girls to turn towards them. The sight that greets them is two men, though one is clearly effeminate, and a woman running towards them.

"Ikkaku! Yumichika! Momo! What the hell are you doing here?" Zaraki shouts towards the new comers.

Ikkaku is a tall and muscular, bald man. Ikkaku sports a gold-plated shoulder plate on his right arm with the kanji for dragon printed on it along with a similar Shihakushō as Zaraki but missing the sleeves entirely.

Yumichika wears the same Shihakushō uniform with some customizations. An orange piece of clothing sits on top of his uniform around the neck, which covers most of his chest that would otherwise be exposed by his uniform. This is connected to an orange sleeve on his right arm under the much looser fitting sleeve of the uniform. Yumichika has colourful feathers on his right eyelashes and eyebrow. He has shiny skin, purple eyes and jaw-length black hair, which, in conjunction with the feathers, gives him a somewhat feminine appearance.

Finally, Momo has brown eyes, and wears a female variant of the robes, with her black hair pulled into a bun held in a tied cloth. When in her Shinigami robes, she wears the lieutenant armband that has the same Kanji, on it as Zaraki's Haori that Ruby hadn't seen earlier, for a so called squad eleven.

"The head captain sent us to assist you in this academy and with any problems should the need arise, Captain Zaraki, Sir!" Momo responded giving a salute in the form of putting her right hand over her heart before bowing.

"Huh is that so, come along; we needs to go to the ballroom." Zaraki responded, put his hands in the pockets of his hakama pants before following the crowd out with the three following behind.

/

The first night at Beacon, students are splayed out in sleeping bags. Ruby, in her pyjamas and with a sleeping mask around her head, is writing in a journal when Yang crashes next to her, similarly dressed.

Yang jumps and lands next to Ruby "It's like a big slumber party!"

Ruby not looking up "I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though."

Yang looking around "I know I do! (Purrs as she watches several muscular, shirtless guys... and Jaune, dressed in feetie pyjamas, waving to her, which makes her groan before she returns her attention to Ruby) What's that?"

Ruby still not looking up from her task "A letter to the gang back at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."

Yang gushes instantaneously "Aw, that's so cute!" And was promptly knocked back as a pillow is launched at her face.

Ruby shoots her sister a glare "Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school! It's weird not knowing anyone here!

Yang glances around for a moment before catching sight of Zaraki, Momo, Ikkaku, and Yumichika & Yachiru "What about Zaraki? He's... nice! There you go! Plus one friend! That's a hundred percent increase! And Yachiru? She is adorable! There two hundred percent increase!"

Ruby turning on her back "Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend. Back to zero..."

Yang "firstly that would be back to one. And secondly there's no such things as negative friends! You just made one friend and one enemy! (Hit with another pillow, this time looking like a dog, to the face) Look, it's only been one day. Trust me; you've got friends all around you! You just haven't met them yet!"

The two sisters notice a candle being lighted nearby, and Blake Belladonna is seen leaning against a wall, reading her book.

Ruby staring "That girl..."

Yang confused turns towards where she was looking "You know her?"

Ruby stares for a second before replying "Not really. She saw what happened this morning, but left before I could say anything."

Yang hops up in excitement "Well, now's your chance!" she then grabs Ruby's arm and lifts her up.

Ruby in a panic "Wait! What are you doing?!"

Blake looks over her book to see Ruby unsuccessfully struggling against Yang's grip as she leads her sister over to Blake's spot before letting go.

Yang singing "Hel-lo~! I believe you two may know each other?"

Blake pauses for a bit "Aren't you... that girl that exploded?"

Ruby stammers for a bit before solidifying her resolve "Uh, yeah! My name's Ruby! But you can just call me Crater... (Smiles, embarrassed) Actually, you can just call me Ruby."

Blake back in her book mumbles an "Okay."

Yang whispering to Ruby "What are you doing?"

Ruby whispering back "I don't know - help me!" goes back to smiling.

Yang pondering for a bit before "So... What's your name?"

Blake sighing as she's distracted yet again "Blake."

Yang smiles "Well, Blake, I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister! I like your bow!"

Blake looked very irritated "Thanks!"

Yang seemingly unaware of her irritation "It goes great with your... pyjamas!"

Blake still looked angry "Right..."

Yang as Ruby laughs uncomfortably "Nice night, don't you think?"

Blake blinked "Yes - it's lovely! Almost as lovely as this book! (Ruby and Yang stand there) That I will continue to read. (Ruby and Yang continue standing there) As soon as you leave!"

Yang to Ruby "Yeah, this girl's a lost cause."

Ruby to Blake "What's it about?"

Blake let out a surprised "Huh?"

"Your book. Does it have a name?" Ruby points at the subject matter.

Blake again was taken back "Well... I-it is about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body."

Yang sarcastically "Oh, yeah... That's real lovely!"

Ruby continues "I love books. Yang used to read to me every night before bed. Stories of heroes and monsters... They're one of the reasons I want to be a Huntress!"

Blake laughing a little "And why is that? Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

Ruby stopped and looked up as if in thought "Well, I'm hoping we all will. As a girl, I wanted to be just like those heroes in the books... Someone who fought for what was right, and protected people who couldn't protect themselves!"

Blake smiles at Ruby "That's... very ambitious for a child. (Her smile turns into a frown) Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale."

Ruby replies immediately with "Well, that's why we're here! To make it better."

Yang gains a proud face "Oh, I am so proud of my baby sister!" hugs Ruby into the air.

Ruby kicking out "Cut it out!" the forced sisterly bonding evolves into a dust cloud of fighting limbs and flying stars. Only for it to be stopped by Zaraki reaching into the dust ball and forcefully separates the two and hold both slightly apart in the air. Before turning to looking at Blake. "Names Zaraki, pleasure to meet you."

"Blake." Blake says then starts laughing slightly at the sight "Well, Ruby, Yang; Zaraki, it's a pleasure to ha-"

Weiss storming onto the scene in her own pyjamas "What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

Weiss and Yang at the sight of each other "Oh, not you again!"

Ruby with a panicked face "Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"

Weiss having to look up at Ruby due to her being airborne. "Oh, now you're on my side!"

Ruby looking startled and angry "I was always on your side!"

Yang joins in from her position "Yeah, what's your problem with my sister? She's only trying to be nice!"

Weiss responds angrily "She's a hazard to my health!"

Blake, who rolls her eyes at the fight, simply closes her book, reaches over to grab her candle, and blows it out, enveloping the room in darkness.


End file.
